Klöckner & Co: Operating result climbs steeply in the first half of 2008, record performance expected for entire year

• At €3.6 billion, sales increased 12% year-on-year
• Sales volume
climbed 5.5% to 3.5 million tons
• EBITDA rose 65.0% to €321
million
• Consolidated net profit for the period increased by 155.2%
to €178 million
• Conversion into a European Company (SE) concluded

• Continued focus on core business

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Duisburg (euro adhoc) - Duisburg, August 13, 2008 - After the
Klöckner & Co Group performed exceptionally well in Q1 2008, the
company´s position improved even further during Q2 2008 as a result
of continuing favorable market conditions for steel and metal
products. In H1 2008, sales volume of the Klöckner & Co Group totaled
- particularly as a result of acquisitions - 3.5 million tons, 5.5%
above the level of a year earlier. Sales climbed to EUR3.6 billion
and rose - primarily as a result of prices - by 12.0% year-on-year.
EBITDA reached EUR321 million during the period, 65.0% higher than
year-earlier results. The consolidated net profit for the period
increased by 155.2% to EUR178 million during H1 2008. "We have
successfully turned increased prices into higher gross margins. This
is the basis of our satisfying earnings growth," said Dr. Thomas
Ludwig, Chairman of the Management Board of Klöckner & Co SE.

Against the backdrop of continuing positive business conditions for
steel distribution, Klöckner & Co expects that EBITDA before one-offs
will exceed EUR500 million for fiscal year 2008. Including
non-recurring income from divestments in Canada and Switzerland in
the third quarter, reported EBITDA is expected to double year-on-year
to more than EUR770 million and the consolidated net profit for the
period is forecast to triple to more than EUR500 million. "The record
result expected for the entire year of 2008 and the high inflow of
funds create an excellent platform for the Group´s strategic growth,"
Dr. Ludwig said.

With the entry into the Commercial Register of the Duisburg Municipal
Court on August 8, 2008, the transformation of Klöckner & Co
Aktiengesellschaft into a European Company (Societas Europaea, SE)
was concluded. "The legal form underscores the international and open
corporate culture of the Klöckner & Co Group and, as a result,
represents a major step in the company´s history," Dr. Thomas Ludwig
said.

In addition, the company was able to move forward with its focus on
core business activities: the acquisition of Temtco Steel, a US
specialist in heavy-plate distribution, was concluded. The sale of
the Canadian subsidiary Namasco Ltd. to the Canadian company Samuel,
Son & Co. Ltd. was completed in July 2008. A contract signing to sell
the wholly owned subsidiary Koenig Verbindungstechnik (KVT) to the
private equity firm Capvis via the Swiss subsidiary Debrunner Koenig
Holding AG (DKH) also took place in July. The sale is still subject
to approval by anti-trust authorities.

About Klöckner & Co: Klöckner & Co is the largest
producer-independent distributor of steel and metal products in the
European and North American markets combined. The core business of
the Klöckner & Co Group is the storage and distribution of steel and
non-ferrous metals. About 210,000 active customers are supplied
through more than 260 distribution locations in 15 countries in
Europe and North America. During the financial year 2007, the Company
achieved sales of approximately EUR6.3 billion with more than 10,000
employees.

The shares of Klöckner & Co SE are admitted to trading on the
official market segment (Amtlicher Markt) of the Frankfurt Stock
Exchange (Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse) with simultaneous admission to
the sub-segment (Prime Standard) to the official market with further
post-admission obligations. ISIN: DE000KC01000; WKN: KC0100; Common
Code: 025808576. Klöckner & Co shares are listed in the MDax® Index
of Deutsche Börse.

end of announcement euro adhoc
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ots Originaltext: Klöckner & Co SE
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Further inquiry note:

Contact persons:

Peter Ringsleben, Claudia Uhlendorf - Corporate Communications

Peter Ringsleben

Phone: +49-203-307-2800

Fax: +49-203-307-5060

E-mail: peter.ringsleben@kloeckner.de

Claudia Uhlendorf

Phone: +49-203-307-2289

Fax: +49-203-307-5103

E-mail: claudia.uhlendorf@kloeckner.de

Claudia Nickolaus - Investor Relations

Phone: +49-203-307-2050

Fax: +49-203-307-5025

E-Mail: claudia.nickolaus@kloeckner.de

Branche: Metal Goods & Engineering
ISIN: DE000KC01000
WKN: KC0100
Index: MDAX, CDAX, Classic All Share, Prime All Share
Börsen: Börse Frankfurt / regulated dealing/prime standard
Börse Berlin / free trade
Börse Hamburg / free trade
Börse Stuttgart / free trade
Börse Düsseldorf / free trade
Börse München / free trade